Lionel Scaloni insisted he would take until the very last minute before submitting his 26-man Argentina squad for this summer's World Cup.
Scaloni is yet to release the names he intends to take to FIFA's flagship competition in the United States, Canada and Mexico, with the deadline just days away.
The final squad lists must be submitted to FIFA by June 1 and will be officially announced a day later, with the likes of England, France and Germany already submitting theirs.
But the reasoning behind Scaloni's decision is due to the number of injuries in his squad, with Lionel Messi sustaining a hamstring issue while playing for Inter Miami.
Argentina face Honduras and Iceland in their pre-World Cup friendlies, and Scaloni said that he and his coaching staff were still making decisions on certain individuals.
"We're taking all the time given to assess the players' condition and finalise the 26-man squad," Scaloni told Radio La Red.
"After that, we won't risk any players in the friendlies; we'll use a mix of players."
Sin importar dónde estés, el corazón por la Celeste y Blanca juega de local pic.twitter.com/Dp4j10sARr
— Selección Argentina (@Argentina) April 22, 2026
Messi is not Argentina's only star player nursing injury, with Tottenham's Cristian Romero also facing a race against time to recover from a ligament sprain in his right knee.
Nahuel Molina and Gonzalo Montiel are also nursing muscle problems, while Como midfielder Nico Paz missed his team's final Serie A match of the season with a knee injury.
"Those who ended the season injured will head to the United States with hardly any training under their belts," Scaloni added.
"Next Monday will be the first training session for most of them. Hopefully they'll all be fit and ready for the first match.
"They don't have any serious injuries, but we need to pace them and take care of them, especially with certain players in key positions.
"That's why the coaching staff and I are waiting until the last minute."
Despite all those injury issues, it has been reported that Real Madrid's Franco Mastantuono is expected to be left out of the final squad.
Mastantuono has struggled in his debut campaign with Los Blancos, scoring just three times in 38 appearances in all competitions, with only 20 of those being starts.
Argentina begin their World Cup title defence against Algeria on June 16. They will also play Austria and Jordan in Group J.